Using containers for the collection, transport, and dispensing of fluids is well known in the art. In the pyramids, jars were found that still contained the smell of the perfume from 3000 years ago. The use of a jar and lid arrangement is cost effective and easy to use, but when the jar is opened the contents are exposed to the environment. This arrangement is fine for uses where exposure to the environment is not of concern, such as perfume, beverages, paints, biologic water samples, and other gross sample applications.
Many applications, however, require fluid sample isolation from the environment; other means have been used to maintain sample integrity. For example, the sample can be taken in situ with a container fitted with a lid and sealed on location. This, however, did not solve the problem of exposure to the environment upon retrieval of the sample. An additional problem is that further samples could not be withdrawn without exposing the sample to the environment at the location of analysis.
Another type of sample container that is used to solve this problem utilizes a valve or other flow control mechanisms. The container with the flow control device open is placed in the sample environment and the fluid sample is allowed to flow into the sample container. When full, or when a pre-determined amount of sample is obtained, the valve is then closed. This arrangement solved some of the problems but presented other difficulties. If the container is not full of fluid sample it will affect the distribution of gases; i.e., gas in solution will move into the air space above the sample or vice versa. If the goal of obtaining the fluid sample is to perform a gas-in-solution analysis, the result could be potentially erroneous. An additional problem is pressure equalization. To equalize pressure while using a rigid container, sample fluid or air will have to be added or removed, thereby affecting the sample.